An Exclusive Conversation With Gerard Way & Friends, Part Two

Part two of an interview with Gerard Way and Killjoys collaborators Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan about life, the future and the past.

As issue two of The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys is released, we thought it was time to catch up with author and My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way, as well as writer Shaun Simon and artist Becky Cloonan. To read the first part of this interview, click here

This is part of a series of articles published to celebrate the ongoing Killjoys series, with the main interview in this month's issue of Rock Sound.

How do you feel about fans approaching this as an extention of the band?
Gerard: “Shaun was there at the beginning. He had a band [Pencey Prep, which also featured MCR guitarist Frank Iero] before we had a band. He watched My Chem get born and watched one of his best friends join, then he got into the band with us, but we had no money to pay him but we were all drifters back then. He’s part of that story. For Becky, she was there during the MCA years and before that, and we’re all connected to music in a weird way.”

When you look at the world as a whole, what are your gut reactions?
Gerard: “There’s a lot of hate, homophobia and discrimination, but I always look at the world as a pretty incredible place filled with courage, art and integrity, and sometimes it goes unpronounced. You can be a part of that, you can make it happen. It’s not about getting the credit for that, it’s about having valour and doing the right thing. The world at large is beautiful and incredible, and I started to view the bad stuff as chaos. You’re not going to have a beautiful place full of many different components, like the human race, without chaos and people acting out within that chaos. That’s where I think all the bad comes from; byproducts of our chaotic nature as human beings. We can’t really help that. You’re either on one side or the other. But my world is pretty positive.”
Shaun: “The world – everything is there, it’s just what you pull out of it yourself. There is a lot of great stuff out there, you’ve just got to find it. But I would like the option to have a rock station in New York instead of one continuous chain of crap.”
Becky: “Sometimes I get into the habit of thinking things were better a few years ago, or 10 years ago or 100 years ago. The music or the writing was really cool, but thinking of now, with all the changes happening, it’s the best time. The internet is changing everything. I can’t imagine growing up now and having all of that at my fingertips. It takes the adventure out of finding new things, but on the other hand I wish I had access to all this growing up. But I don’t know how much of that would’ve affected me, because so much of who I am was built on being 14 and trying to figure out who I want to be.”

Gerard: "It’s been a long time since I’ve woken up and I can’t wait to play guitar while being a mentally present father. Towards the end of MCR I was just… there… and when I reconcile that with myself you can’t make up for lost time but you can make the time you have great. One thing I’m thankful for is that I figured out some stuff pretty early. Was I ready to be a dad? No, but I’m great at it. You can’t be two people in your brain, one rock dude and a dad – there’s something in the middle of them, and that’s really what you are and that’s going to make you the best dad, not when you try to be one or the other. I’m still sleeping four hours a night and still grabbing instruments. The abstractions are pouring out of me and they’re making more sense than trying to craft them into a meaning.”

To read more pick up Rock Sound Issue 177 now, for more on The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys head to darkhorse.com.